‘Why Airport Security Is Broken—and How to Fix It’

Over the weekend a lot of readers sent this in to me, a lot — it’s an article about the TSA and its faults. I saw it, thank you. The problem is, that while former TSA administrator Kip Hawley denounces some of the tactics used, he still has concluded that the TSA is a necessary […]

Over the weekend a lot of readers sent this in to me, a lot — it’s an article about the TSA and its faults. I saw it, thank you. The problem is, that while former TSA administrator Kip Hawley denounces some of the tactics used, he still has concluded that the TSA is a necessary evil.

I disagree.

The problem with the TSA is twofold:

The policies that they follow, both on what is and isn’t allowed and how they screen. This is addressed very well by Hawley and it is a major problem.

The people, the job.

The second problem is what isn’t addressed, and it’s the bigger issue. Because even if we succeed in getting rid of porno scanners and allowing liquid through, we still face the issue of TSA “officers” over stepping their bounds.

Since the inception of the TSA I have thought that airport screening should be handled not by a new agency under the directive of a dubious agency tasked with “homeland security”, but rather by the FBI.

I say this because here is the requirement for being a TSA screener:

Those aren’t stringent requirements, and yet they are (as the TSA would have you believe) the people on the front lines protecting this country from terrorism. Yeah.

You may not like the FBI, but not just anyone can be in the FBI. And that’s the difference. The TSA was built out in a couple of months and staffed as quickly as possible with the most readily available people — and that’s why the TSA is as bad as it is.

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